Bansko - Bulgaria

Coat of Arms - Bansko - Courtesy of Wikipedia

David and I had been planning to travel to Bansko together this winter, so I was delighted to accept an offer from my sister and brother-in-law to accompany them on their recent trip. Despite having only been home a few days from my long haul travel I had decided after initial doubts that I should take up the opportunity. I am so glad I did as it was a very enjoyable trip with plenty of relaxation in the pool and jacuzzi, delicious local food at a few of the many restaurants and of course some ski-ing!

Postcard purchased in Bansko

Location of Bansko:
Bansko is a  mountain resort located in the south-west of Bulgaria. The town is situated 6 km from the town of Razlog and 160 km from the capital of Sofia. Bansko lies on the two banks of the Glazne river at the foot of the Pirin mountain, just below its highest peak. The Pirin mountain is an Alpine type mountain with its highest peak - Vihren (2914 m). The town of Bansko is located 925 m above sea level with the ski area - at altitudes of 2000 to 2600 m.

Map of Ski -Area

History of  Bansko : 
The archaeological traces of the inhabitants of Bansko appear to date to the early periods of the Roman Empire. There are several housing structures at the outskirts of the town, which date to 100 BC, but it is not known who these people were. There are several legends about who founded Bansko. According to one of them, Bansko was founded by people who lived in Dobarsko, a village in Rila, itself according to a legend founded by the blinded army of Tsar Samuil. Another legend claims that Bansko was founded by an Italian painter by the name of Ciociolino, hence the existence of the name Chucholin in Bansko.

Still according to another version it was a Slavic tribe called the Peruns, who lived in Pirin and worshiped Perun, that founded the village later to become a town.

Bansko became part of Bulgaria, during the reign of Khan Krum, most probably around 811 AD and has been part of Bulgaria, ever since except the period when the country was under Ottoman rule.

Bulgarian Flag

I was very taken with the resort especially the older parts of the town and in some ways it reminded me of Italy as it was when we first started visiting over forty years ago.  I have tried to capture the atmosphere of Bansko through my camera lens and hope you will enjoy the photos I have chosen to share here with you on a walk around the town when we first arrived, which was before the snow arrived at town level!

Bansko - Holy Trinity Orthodox Church
Post on church will follow soon.

As you can see the snow did arrive down in the town! Don't forget the photos will enlarge to view, just click on any one. Meanwhile I hope you got the feeling of some the town's atmosphere, back soon with more Bansko posts.

With thanks to the following sites for the background information included in this post. The links will take you directly to the pages on Bansko if you are interested in learning more about the town and the ski-slopes.

General
Bansko - Wikipedia  Municipality of Bansko - Official Website
For Skiers:
Bansko Blog.com  Facebook Page - Bansko Blog   Twitter - Bansko Blog

                           All photos unless stated otherwise are my own taken in January 2014
  

 All rights reserved by LindyLouMac Photo Collection

More photos from this trip may also be viewed individually in the collection entitled  

Bansko - Bulgaria at My Flickr  account.